The invention relates to a hair and body cleansing composition and, more particularly, to a clear aqueous hair and body cleansing composition which can be thickened with a suitable inorganic salt and is based on lauryl alcohol diglycol ether sulfate or a mixture of surfactants containing lauryl alcohol diglycol ether sulfate.
In addition to the surfactants which bring about the cleansing effect, hair and body cleansing compositions conventionally contain additives for the care of hair and skin therefore these additives are supposed to ensure that the hair be combable when wet as well as when dry, that it have reduced static electricity and a soft and natural feel. In addition, the use of these compositions is supposed to produce a pleasant and groomed feeling of the skin. Skin treated in this manner is supposed to feel smooth and soft to the touch.
It is known to use cationic polymers, e.g. cationic cellulose derivatives, cationic chitosan derivatives or quaternary ammonium salts as conditioning agents in hair and body cleansing compositions.
The use of cationic polymers in compositions for the cleansing of the hair facilitates the untangling of hair treated with the composition, as well as further treatment of the hair, and imparts bounce and luster to the hair. In addition, the body cleansing compositions containing cationic polymers produce a pleasant and groomed feeling of the skin. Certain polyquaternary ammonium salts, for example, produce a powerful conditioning effect on the skin and hair.
In spite of the very good grooming action of the polyquaternary ammonium salts, their use in the production of clear hair and body cleansing compositions has previously been limited, since adding them to the hair and body cleansing compositions containing the conventional anionic surfactants leads to cloudiness and accordingly prevents the production of clear products. Thus, for example, insoluble cloudiness develops when alkyl ether sulfate and polyquaternary ammonium salts are used simultaneously in aqueous solution (Comparison Example 3, Table 1). If a mixture of alkyl ether sulfate and an amphoteric surfactant, e.g. fatty acid alkylamido betaine, is used as a surfactant foundation for hair and body cleansing compositions, an added polyquaternary ammonium salt remains clear in solution (Comparison Example 11, Table 1). However, if the attempt is made to thicken this clear surfactant solution with a suitable inorganic salt, e.g. sodium chloride, precipitations occur (Comparison Example 9, Table 1).
A bath and shower cleansing composition which contains a certain polyquaternary ammonium salt in addition to sulfosuccinates and whose viscosity was adjusted with sodium chloride, has been described by T. Schoenberg (T. Schoenberg, "Formulating Mild Foaming Bath Products", Cosmetics and Toiletries, 100 (5), 53-58 (1985). However, the bath and shower cleansing composition described in the latter is a cloudy product.